Do you check-in baggage for short-haul/short trips?

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Soldato
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I'm going to Amsterdam tomorrow for work. Four days so should fit everything in my small carry-on sized case.. although the weather is going to be colder and variable which never helps :o

I think I bought a ticket with check-in baggage but I know a lot of the travel pros would never dream of checking a bag if you can carry it on. What do you think? I'm not in a rush when landing there or coming home so the extra 20mins or whatever to wait for it isn't a big deal. I don't like having to wheel it round the airport either. I guess the only annoying thing would be if they lose it and I'm without my stuff for a day or two... but surely there's loads of flights to Amsterdam every day so wouldn't even be that long to get it to me? :confused:
 
3 nights I’m ok with carry on, 4 nights I insist on a piece of hold luggage
As it’s a work trip, you may feel inclined to have some spare clothes
Like you say, as it’ll be cold you may need more layers/bulkier clothes
The only time I regretted hold luggage was some dreadful airport where there was no bag drop and it took 75mins to manually check in. That was some time ago, though
If I have hold luggage, in whatever carry on bag I’m using, I make sure I have any essential medication, toothbrush, toothpaste, spare underwear, and if it’s hot, a hat plus a small tube of sun cream, and if it’s cold, gloves and a thick pair of socks
 
For short trips I can't remember the last time I took luggage that was checked in. The weathers not going to be that much colder in Amsterdam so will only require a couple of extra layers thrown in the suitcase.

Only minor annoyance with cabin luggage is having to abide by the 100ml liquid rule. Not a big deal these days as you can get most things in small tubes/containers.
 
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Pipe & Slippers said:
As it’s a work trip, you may feel inclined to have some spare clothes
Like you say, as it’ll be cold you may need more layers/bulkier clothes
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Yeah. The weather is annoying. It'll be hot in the convention hall (tshirt) but cold enough to require layers outside and in the evening.
Pipe & Slippers said:
If I have hold luggage, in whatever carry on bag I’m using, I make sure I have any essential...
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...spare pair of pants. Right? :D
Semple said:
Only minor annoyance with cabin luggage is having to abide by the 100ml liquid rule.
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Yeah even though everything now appears to fit in my smallest cabin case, I might just check it in as I don't like having a plastic bag full of toiletries to lug around in my rucksack. And I don't even have that many toiletries :confused:
 
Depends who i am flying with and how long for. I prefer paying a bit more for BA as their carry-on allowance is more generous than budget so i can squeeze 4-5 nights. A week and it's check-in.
 
I used to work away every week in a different county for 4-5 days and wouldn't dream of checking in any bags. I want to be in and out of the airport as quickly as possible.
 
I can't stand carry on it's a mega faff and the short haul flights I've been on recently have asked people to check in. Compared to the other undesirable mega faffs of flying my recent baggage claim waits have barely registered.
 
Semple said:
For short trips I can't remember the last time I took luggage that was checked in. The weathers not going to be that much colder in Amsterdam so will only require a couple of extra layers thrown in the suitcase.

Only minor annoyance with cabin luggage is having to abide by the 100ml liquid rule. Not a big deal these days as you can get most things in small tubes/containers.
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I’ve stopped taking liquids. Always found either the hotel has them or just get them in a shop when you are there.
 
I always check my bags in even for short work trips. I do get paid overtime so if my bags get lost or delayed I'm being paid to wait.

However I've never had to wait for long or lost any luggage, I may change my mind if that happened
 
I always do carry on, only done checked for longer haul/long duration trips.

Can't be bothered with the faff of checking in and dropping luggage, then finding out it's been battered when it comes out the other end :P
 
PlacidCasual said:
I can't stand carry on it's a mega faff and the short haul flights I've been on recently have asked people to check in. Compared to the other undesirable mega faffs of flying my recent baggage claim waits have barely registered.
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It definitely used to be a faff, typically Ryanair/EasyJet/Jet 2 used to just do it first come first serve - with the costs of flights going up and cost of checking a bag in being like £30 you got into the situation where 90% of the plane had a cabin bag and they couldn't fit everyone's. You also had to make sure you were getting on the plane first so your bag was in the near vicinity rather than being the other end of the plane (leading to a nightmare when landing).

Now I think they all charge you (at least from what I recall with Ryanair and Jet2) to take on a overhead cabin bag along with a pre-booked seat.
 
I've never checked luggage - but I'm quite handy at finessing weight and space to a degree a lot of people probably don't have the patience and/or mindset for (I've occasionally regretted it for the return trip mind but not to the degree I'd bother with it).

I think partly due to an experience when I was younger where some friend's luggage ended up half-way the wrong way around the world and was eventually delivered back to their house like 3 weeks later with stuff missing.
 
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PlacidCasual said:
I can't stand carry on it's a mega faff and the short haul flights I've been on recently have asked people to check in. Compared to the other undesirable mega faffs of flying my recent baggage claim waits have barely registered.
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Mega faff?

Check in, get to airport, walk to departures and head for security then head to the bar and have a beer relax before the flight. Fly. Land. Get to the front of immigration. Leave.

How can that possibly be a faff?

Whereas you’d have to queue for baggage. Regardless of whether or not you’ve checked in. Other side you’ve got to wait for baggage, could be delays or could even be your bag is damaged or missing. You then need to queue again for immigration because every man and his dog from the flight are now waiting there and another flight has joined the party! :p :p

*edit*
I read the next post after the reply.

Fair enough :cry: :D
Semple said:
It definitely used to be a faff, typically Ryanair/EasyJet/Jet 2 used to just do it first come first serve - with the costs of flights going up and cost of checking a bag in being like £30 you got into the situation where 90% of the plane had a cabin bag and they couldn't fit everyone's. You also had to make sure you were getting on the plane first so your bag was in the near vicinity rather than being the other end of the plane (leading to a nightmare when landing).

Now I think they all charge you (at least from what I recall with Ryanair and Jet2) to take on a overhead cabin bag along with a pre-booked seat.
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Scam said:
I think I bought a ticket with check-in baggage but I know a lot of the travel pros would never dream of checking a bag if you can carry it on.
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Err what? If you have paid for a check in bag, then you most certainly should check it in even if it is a carry on bag.

Pulling a carry on around the airport and on the plane is one of the most annoying things about traveling.
 
When flying for work on proper airlines, I always had a backpack for under the seat in front and a small carry on case that could easily hold a week’s worth of clean clothes.

Now than I’m stuck with Ryan Air for visiting family in the U.K., Herself and I share a hold bag (with an under seat bag each) as it’s just way too much of a PITA to get involved in the Muppet War that is everyone and his/her paint huffing cousin trying to get their oversize bags in the especially miserly overhead lockers.
 
Reuben klang said:
Mega faff?

Check in, get to airport, walk to departures and head for security then head to the bar and have a beer relax before the flight. Fly. Land. Get to the front of immigration. Leave.

How can that possibly be a faff?
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Check -In - go to Airport, drop bag, security with no bag, bar with no bag, plane with no bag, immigration with no bag, wait for 5 mins (go tot toilet) collect bag leave. All the same without dragging a bag around for hours.
 
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